Sri Lanka

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Quick Facts

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Capital

Colombo

Government

Republic

Nationality

Sri Lankan

Population

19 886 000 ^[1]

Languages

Sinhala, Tamil, English

Religions

Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam

Currency

Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) ₨

Calling Code

+94

Time Zone

UTC+5:30

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Introduction

A lovely bird at Hingurakgoda

© All Rights Reserved nishantha

The Pearl of the Orient - Sri Lanka's bitter civil conflict has belied the country's nickname for half a century. For the tourist, this doesn't mean that Sri Lanka should be erased from the potentials list for this year's holiday; it does, however, mean that some areas of Sri Lanka are to be avoided.

The areas that can be visited pack enough into your itinerary to keep you happy for weeks. Beautiful beaches abound, especially around the southern coast. Steamy tropical rain forests are home to elephants, leopards, dugong and a massive population of migratory birds. The cities offer a glimpse into the influence of Dutch, Portuguese and British colonial times; Galle presents the finest example of an old Dutch fort, whilst the profusion of cricket pitches is the best indicator of Britain's legacy. Mostly, though, Sri Lanka remains in tune with its own heritage; they still make their curries hot enough to turn pale white folk into a crimson red.

Brief History

Geography

Regions/Provinces

Sri Lanka consists of 9 provinces.

• Central Province - Kandy.
• Eastern Province - Trincomalee.
• North Central Province - Anuradhapura.
• North Western Province - Kurunegala.
• Northern Province - Jaffna.
• Sabaragamuwa Province - Ratnapura.
• Southern Province - Galle.
• Uva Province - Badulla.
• Western Province - Colombo.

Districts

Sri Lanka's 9 provinces are divided into 25 districts.
(1) Northern province:

• Jaffna
• Killinochchi
• Mullaitivu
• Vavuniya
• Mannar

(2) North Central province:

• Anuradhapura
• Polonnaruwa

(3) Eastern province:

• Trincomalee
• Batticaloa
• Ampara

(4) North-west province:

• Puttalam
• Kurunegala

(5) Western province:

• Gampaha
• Colombo
• Kalutara

(6) Central province:

• Kandy
• Matale
• Nuwara Eliya

(7) Sabaragamuwa province:

• Kegalle
• Ratnapura

(8) Uva province:

• Badulla
• Moneragala

(9) Southern province:

• Galle
• Hambantota
• Matara

Sights and Activities

Adventure

There are plenty of opportunities for the adventurous traveller in Sri Lanka. Climbing Adams peak (Sripada) offers a 6.5km hike and is largely done at night.

Nature and wildlife

Yala National Park

© All Rights Reserved sandaruwan

There are also lots of wild parks in the country. Yala and Wilpattu are the largest ones and if you're lucky you can spot elephants, leopards, bears, deer and wild buffaloes. Sinharaja is one of the oldest rain forests in the world.
Horton Plains National Park is a large 3160 hectare park in the highlands of the country. This is the highest plateau in Sri Lanka and was declared as a National Park in 1988.

Sinharaja Forest Reserve
The Sinharaja Forest Reserve is located in the southwest of the country and contains most of the country's primary tropical rainforest. More than 60% of the trees are endemic and many of them are considered rare. Endemic wildlife includes many birds and over 50% of Sri Lanka's endemic species of mammals and butterflies. To end, there are smaller creatures including insects, reptiles and some rare amphibians. For this reason the park is on the Unesco World Heritage List.

Beaches and marine activities

Sunset in Weligama

© All Rights Reserved AlexT

Sri Lanka contains some beautiful beaches including Hikkaduwa, Benthota and Unawatuna on the southern cost. These beaches are safe for swimming, surfing, diving and other water related sports. An impressive coral reef can also be found at Hikkaduwa. Negombo north of the capital Colombo attracts many package tourists from Europe as well.

Cultural sights

There are 100 rivers in this small country and more than 10 000 ‘wawa’ (man made lakes). Some of them are more than 3000 acres. Most of them were built by the ancient kings more than 1500 years ago.
Sri Lanka is one of the oldest civilizations in the world with a history going back over 10 000 years. There are ancient capitals all over the country. Some of them are Anuradapura, Polonnaruwa, Yapahuewa, Kandy, Kurunagala, Dambadeniya & Jayawardanapura. A lot of the culture is based on Buddhism. Ancient temples and ‘Dagaba’s can be found all around the country. The Jethawana, Abhayagiri and Ruwanwali Dagaba’s are even larger than the great Pyramids of Egypt.

Ancient cities
The Ancient cities of Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya are on the Unesco World Heritage List as well and are of important historical and cultural value for the country. Polonnaruwa was the second capital of Sri Lanka after the destruction of Anuradhapura in 993. Sigiriya is famous for its 370 meter high granite peak, called the Lion's Peak, which can be climbed by stairs. Kandy is home to a tooth of Buddha as well.

Sacred cities
Anuradhapura and Kandy are the two sacred cities on the Unesco list. The first one was the first capital that flourished for 1,300 years and was abandoned after an invasion in 993. This sight with its palaces, monasteries and monuments is one of the cultural highlights in the country. Read more about the second one in the Kandy article.
Galle: old town and fortifications - including a Dutch fort. Perfect place to combine culture and beaches.

Events and Festivals

The major festivals in Sri Lanka:

• Thai Pongal festival - A harvest festival celebrated by Hindus on January 14.
• Milad-un-Nabi - Birth of Prophet Mohammed.
• Maha Sivarathri - Hindu festival in March.
• Good Friday in April.
• New Year for the Sinhalese and Tamils - usually comes around April 12 - 14.
• Vesak Poya Day - day of birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha on the May full moon day.
• Esala Perahera - celebrated during the July full moon time at the Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth) in Kandy.
• Deepawali - festival of lights and celebrating triumph of good over evil (usually around October/ November).
• Id-ul-Fitr - End of holy fasting in the month of Ramadan.
• Christmas.

Other major events:

• February 4: Independence Day (from the English in 1948)
• May 1: Labour Day
• Full moon day each month is a Buddhist religious public holiday to allow practicing Buddhists to observe 'Sil' (the 5 Buddhist precepts)

Weather

Sri Lanka has a tropical climate, meaning hot and humid weather year round. Temperatures average around 30 degrees Celcius during the day and around 20 degrees at night, slightly more at the coast, slightly lower more inland. In the mountains it can get a bit chilly though. Rainfall is possible year round, but is higher during the April to June and September to December period. January-February and July-August are somewhat drier.

Getting There

By Plane

Sri Lankan Airlines is the national airline of Sri Lanka and is based at Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) near the capital of the country, Colombo. It operates international flights to and from Abu Dhabi, Bangalore, Bangkok, Beijing, Chennai, Coimbatore, Doha, Dubai, Delhi, Dammam, Frankfurt, Goa, Hong Kong, Hyderabad, Kuala Lumpur, London Heathrow, Male, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Karachi, Kuwait, Singapore and Tokyo Narita. Other airlines serving the country are Emirates, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Martinair, Condor, Cathay Pacific and lowcoast airlines Air Arabia from Sharjah. Mihin Lanka is a lowcost airline which focuses on providing low cost flights from Colombo to Dubai and a number of cities in India. Its future base will be Weerawila International Airport (WRZ), which will probably we ready in 2009. Expo Aviation operates many charter service to and from the following destinations: Abu Dhabi, Australia, Bangalore, Bangkok, Beirut, Cairo, Kozhikode, Chennai, Chittagong, Kochi, Dhaka, Dubai, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Jakarta, Jeddah, Karachi, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Lahore, Malé, Manila, Mumbai, Muscat, several cities in Africa and Europe, Sharjah, Singapore, Tiruchirapalli and Thiruvananthapuram.

By Boat

There are shipping lines you could use between the Indian city of Trivandrum and Sri Lanka, but no regular passenger services exist. Ask around in the port in India or Sri Lanka.

Getting Around

By Plane

Expo Aviation and Aero Lanka offer scheduled flights to Jaffna and Trincomalee from Colombo. Chartered flights are also available. Deccan operates flights by plane or helicopter to the major tourist locations and can save hours in road transport but is very expensive.
There are airport taxis and vans in operation. They are cheaper for transporting you and your luggage to or from the airport.

By Train

There are trains connecting the major southern cities, the central, the east and Colombo. Popular routes include Colombo to Kandy vv. At present, there are no trains going beyond Anuradhapura to the northern places like Jaffna.

By Car

Travelling by car is the best option for getting around Sri Lanka. You have the freedom to stop when and where you want. Hiring a vehicle with driver is advisable, as it is best to go about with a driver familiar with the roads and you have a company that you can hold accountable for to ensure a safe drive for you. If you want to drive yourself, it is possible and several companies offer cars at the international airport and resort areas. Most roads are tarred, traffic drives on the left and you need an international driving permit.

Taxis, depending on the distance, can be reasonably cheap within Colombo city limits. There are numerous cabs now in service in the city. Some have a starting rate above which prices are added by the km and others start off from zero and go by the km. The latter is especially useful for shorter distances.

By Bus

Public buses are the cheapest mode of public transport. However, they can be quite crowded. As a tourist, if you don't need to be travelling in the morning or evening or afternoon rush hours, then you can find that travelling during the in-between hours can be very cheap as well as giving a good glimpse of the city.

Intercity buses start and end in Colombo from the Fort area. You can get on one in-between but if you want a seat, better to go to the Fort bus stand. There are two stands: one for the inter-city buses that travel shorter distances, less than four hours and the the other for longer distances. Each city has a main bus stand where inter-city buses depart from or arrive at.

Visit the Central Transport Board for more information about companies and fares.

Other public transport by land

A popular mode of transportation for both tourists and local residents is the three-wheeler/auto/ tuk-tuk. It is a convenient means of getting around within a city, when one does not want to go on the crowded public buses or more expensive taxis. Just be sure to agree on the price before you get onboard, as some drivers have a tendency to overcharge if you ask for the price at the end of the drive. It is usually also safer to get an auto from the stand that is usually located at the top of the streets, as that means that they are registered under the auto-drivers group of that area and should any misfortune befall, it will be much easier to locate the area and auto.

By Boat

There are no scheduled passenger services around Sri Lanka, but chartered a boat for diving and fishing is a popular way. Of course, you can also join a tour.

Red Tape

Citizens from the following countries do not require a visa to enter Sri Lanka for a stay of up to 30 days.

• Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong (SAR), Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Maldives, Moldova, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Ukraine, Uzbekistan ^[2]

Money

See also: Money Matters

Work

Study

Language

Sinhala and Tamil are the official languages of Sri Lanka. English is a working language for most private sector enterprises based in Colombo but out of Colombo, the local languages are used. However, as a tourist, one can get by with English as usually basic words and phrases in English are generally known to all, as English is taught as a third language in local schools.

Eat

Sleep

Drink

Health

See also: Travel Health

There are Government hospitals in all the main towns of Sri Lanka. The medical facilities and doctors will be some of the best available in that particular district. However, as these medical services are provided free of charge by the Government, there are some drawbacks: very long queues, less maintenance of public spaces within the hospital etc.

There are numerous private hospitals and health care clinics, which requires payment for service provided and these are generally not affordable for those living in the average income level in the country. Based on feedback from people from that district, one can choose one of these service providers if one wants faster service.

The Colombo National Hospital is currently considered the best public hospital in Sri Lanka and Nawaloka Hospitals Ltd. the best private hospital.

It is advisable to get malaria shots or use mosquito repellants when travelling around Sri Lanka as the last decade has seen numerous mosquito-borne diseases spread through the country, such as dengue, chikungunya etc.

Safety

See also: Travel Safety

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafes are available in all the cities and these are cheap and easy to access. Most hotels have internet access as well but are relatively expensive.

There are various internet service providers (Sri Lanka Telecom, Dialog, Mobitel etc.) providing different packages: ADSL broadband, dial-up, WiFi. Please contact a service provider to learn more about the packages and prices.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls
Sri Lanka Telecom is the major landline phone service provider in the country. However, getting an IDD connection requires a deposit.

The mobile phone service providers are Dialog, Mobitel, Tigo and the recently introduced Airtel

CDMA phones are a good option if travelling to less touristy places as the mobile phone coverage is not available in some parts

Post

Each city/town has a main post office and the villages will have access to sub post offices, either at the village or nearby village. Local post, through normal mail, is cheap and fast. However, to ensure that the post has reached recipient, it is better to send by registered post which will allow you to have a reference number which you can later use to check with your post office that your mail has reached its destination.

There are local courier services. Aramex, Pronto are some of the ones in Colombo and they deliver mail the same day or overnight.

For better tracking and fast services, DHL, TNT provide a good service but are expensive.